


Mushroom M̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ Father

by Myinsomnialetsmewrite



Category: Smile For Me (Video Game)
Genre: Habitsona, peachblossom au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-01 17:20:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20261728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myinsomnialetsmewrite/pseuds/Myinsomnialetsmewrite
Summary: Intro fic for my Habitsona Amalgam in the peachblossom au!





	Mushroom M̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ Father

**Author's Note:**

> Peach blossom au explanation can be found here!
> 
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kHdcN3qYXh6HH2MgARxffniHbrLDppzcnk6KcQrf4bk/edit?usp=sharing

Amalgam couldn’t believe, out of all the people in the world…  
As they put their dad back to bed, they thought about their life up to this point. Seventeen, and the world starts falling apart due to a flower disease.  
Mom has to evacuate with the kids, and they’re with dad. So in her haste, she tells them that they need to leave with dad. And they’ll meet up again eventually. To keep texting her, and let her know things would be alright.  
So they go to wake dad up, and something isn’t right.

He had been off for a couple of days, but now he seems...Even worse. They wake him up and he’s just spouting off nonsense. He looks really blissed out too.  
They pull him up into a sitting position, and pull down on his shirt a little.

“....Fuck.”  
There were buds sprouting. 

Taping down their fake flowers, Amalgam continued to reminisce about what had happened next. They had immediately decided they were infected too, and just wanted to stay with their dad as long as possible if they were going to die. But over the next few days, they realized that while their dad got worse, they continued to...Be normal. They never had any flower growth, and they were just as calm as they usually were in extremities.  
They had a gift, they realized. To be natural immune to it. 

In that month, they had done all they can to learn and get help for it. Before the internet got really slow and TV was scarce, they had learned about it being called “Peach Blossom syndrome.” Okay. A name. Internet tutorials on how to help or cure the damn thing was often useless or just unhelpful. And trying to scout out.  
Well…  
They had made these fake flowers, Jacob’s Ladders, as a way to be less noticeable. Other people who didn’t make it out in time would stare. A lot. They would come over and incoherently ask why they didn’t have any pretty flowers, and sometimes...Well.  
They didn’t want to talk about those moments where people tried to “help.” 

So one night, out of pure frustration, they cut out a bunch of flowers from a book they had and tapped it on to themselves. The questions stopped, and it made their dad very happy. Until they had to explain that they weren’t real. He cried for a bit, before hugging them close.

“Don’t worrey! U are still child. Love you.”

They cried themselves to sleep that night. 

They desperately kept trying to go out and look for doctors, but there was no one for hundreds of miles besides the flower people. And the only time her dad wanted to leave the house was to be in the sun. Amalgam had tried very hard to stop that and keep growth slow.

“See this lamp dad? It’s a sunlight lamp! So you don’t have to go outside.”

“Really?!”  
He had tried for a few days, but he just seemed very sad.

“It’s not same :(“ He told them. Amalgam sighed, hugging him close.

“I know. But your flowers will be a lot prettier this way. I promise.”

“...Okay! Anythig for child.” 

He hugged them back. 

Amalgam stopped believing help would come, and all they could do was delay the inevitable.  
But the day they started believing in miracles again was when he came.

They had been out at the store, gathering some food when there was a hand on their shoulder. They should have been more surprised, but this has happened a few times before. 

“No eggs.” They mumbled, turning around before screaming. A large...Green? Man was hovering before them.  
They knew their town, this guys they hadn’t seen.

“Looking?” They asked, simple. The man tilted their head at them, and looked sad. Before examining their arm.

“...This is new.” He whispered. “They’re...Paper.”

“...” Amalgam was trying to think fast, not knowing if he was still lucid or not. “Felt bad...Everyone else has pretty flowers.”

“So you’re not infected?” He asked them.

“No.”

He then smiled.

“Someone who’s naturally immune! That’s an extremely rare sight to see. My name is Dr. Habit, I’ve come to look for other people who are infected, and cure them.”

Too many emotions were running through the teen. First, someone else who wasn’t infected? That was great! But curing them.  
Their first reaction was laughter, to which he looked at them confused.

“You’re kidding me.” They chuckled. “If it was really so easily curable, you think most of my city wouldn’t have had to evacuate. I wouldn’t be stuck with me, my father, and like the 6 others wandering around here. No, I don’t believe that.” 

Habit looked down sadly at them once again. “I understand your skeptical! But please, believe me. I’ve cured others at the Habitat. Is your father sick? At the very least if you don’t believe me, let me take you two there so he can be treated and you can still be a child.”

Amalgam was getting irritated. “Okay. I don’t know who you think you are, but I just met you. My dad is all I have left, and I’m not getting wound up in any more false promises. So go away.”

“But it’s not a false promise.” He explained quietly, as they started to walk away. “If it was, would I still be here talking to you?”

Amalgam stopped again. Biting their tongue in thought. Right, he wasn’t infected. And came her for a purpose right? Surely…

“So you aren’t infected as well?” 

“Yes.” Habit answered quickly. While not entirely the truth, it’s not like he was...Like them. And he really had to help out this kid. 

“...Fine then. We’re not going now.” Amalgam explained, throwing him a can of beans. “Help me finish shopping and come back to my house. You’re gonna spend a night there, and then maybe I’ll go with you.”  
Habit smiled.

“I will take you up on that offer.” 

As they walked back, Amalgam quickly threw the bags at him as they saw a man lying in the grass, directly towards the sunlight. He could only assume that was their father.

“Hey dad! I’m tired, we have to go inside now.” They told him he whined.

“But sunlight good!”

“It can be, but too much is bad isn’t it? Think about it, your flowers could get all shriveled up if we don’t get any water and all sun.”

Her father visibly cringed, before quickly nodding. He then looked over at Habit, and frowned.  
Skepticism seemed to run in the family.

“Don’t worry dad. Good friend!” They told him. “He’s here to help.”

“Help you?” He asked, holding up their arms. “Real flowers.”

“Maybe.” They explained, patting his head. “But it still might not happen. Flowers don’t like me.” 

At that comment, he started to sob into their chest. They shushed him, patting his head.

“I know you’re sad. But maybe it’s just taking a while. My flowers just might be shy! Do you want to go inside now and get a drink?” 

With a nod, Amalgam helped him get up, and Habit followed behind. A sadness also stricken on his face.  
Habit, just witnessing all of that, was hit with a glum and pity he hasn’t gotten from others. Most children and adults got infected together if they stuck around. But an immune teen trying to help their deceased father? It was tragic. Tragic in too many ways to count.  
He had to get them out of here. He had to. 

He watched their daily routine, as Amalgam tried to convince him on some apple juice than more water. Then later tried very very hard to get him to eat some quesadilla and beans.

“No!” He kept telling them, kicking away. “No! No!!”

“Dad...You’re making me really sad.” They told him, hugging him close. “Please try two bites. I might cry if you don’t.”

He suddenly stopped kicking, and looked on Amalgam’s face. They really did look like they would cry. He looked at the food, grimacing.  
He took one bite of the quesadilla, and another of the beans before pushing it away.

“Eggs.” he told them.

“I would have to cook them.” he told them. “But would you feel better if I gave you some milk too?”

He nodded, as Amalgam went back into the kitchen. Habit had to excuse himself, for he wasn’t going to cry in front of them. 

When their dad was finally in bed, Amalgam sat on the living room couch with Habit. It was silent, for a little bit. Before they took a deep breath.

“Prove to me.” They whispered. “Give me one piece of evidence that you can cure this, and I will go with you.”

Habit could see in their face the pure exhaustion that laid there. And depending on the person, exhaustion like that either let them give into despair or hope.  
Amalgam was giving into hope. 

“...Do you know the procedure to removing the flowers?” He asked them, to which they shook their head. “Well, to help your father, we would have to take him to the Habitat. Then we would go in and remove all the buds and flowers growing off of him. Maybe prescribe some antibiotics. That’s all the easy part! The real recovery comes in helping with their emotional state and temporary brain damage. But once he’s cured...He’s cured!”

“...And how did you figure this all out?” 

“Well, at first I had just tried to help people through anyways I could. Shelter, food, all that. But then I thought...If these flowers were growing on people, why not just remove them? So I tested with a patient of mine, and it worked! Until I realized it was ripe for regrowth. So I had found a chemical dilute to neutralize all the pollen. And that was it! Everyone’s been doing very well at the Habitat.”

“Then…” A thousand thoughts seemed to cross through Amalgam, before they looked at him a bit darkly. “Then why are still so many infected? Why is it just you?”

He looked at them sadly. “Doesn’t it all start like that? It’s one person, then they cure a few dozen. Then a couple more. Then you teach it to a few, and they cure more. And before you know it, everyone is cured! But for as sad as it is, it’s going to start one person before it’s millions.”

“...Then I’m going to promise you one thing.” They said, gripping the hems of their shirt. “If I take you to the habitat, and my dad is hurt more than what your promised, I will kill you. You will not…”

They started to sob.

“You will not take away the one thing left from me! I did not work so hard to care and love for my dad like this all to have it leave on some false promise! I don’t know where my mom and siblings went! I can’t reach them anymore. He’s all I have left, an I fucking swear….I swear!” 

Habit quickly pulled them into a tight hug, as they started to sob. Habit soothed them, patting their head. He too promised himself that he would fix this. Amalgam could go back to being a teen, and maybe find the rest of their family.

There was a noise from the kitchen, to which Amalgam quickly pushed themselves away from. They saw their dad there, looking nervous.

“Sad?”

“Yes Papa. Sad.”

He quickly went over and pulled them into his own hug, shushing them.

“No cry! Here. You will have flowers too! One day.” 

After a few minutes, Amalgam pulled away.

“Hey dad, we’re going to pack up okay? We’re going to a place to help your flowers!”

“Yours too?”

“Yes, mine too.”

Habit smiled.  
There was still hope to be found.


End file.
